Community Partners for Civic Participation and Social Change Dave Wells Assistant Faculty Director Interdisciplinary Stu

1. Community Partners for Civic Participation and Social Change Dave Wells Assistant Faculty Director Interdisciplinary Studies Degree Arizona State University School of Interdisciplinary Studies

2. Outline School of Interdisciplinary Studies • Overview • Models to help you think through possibilities (25 minutes) • Evaluating possibilities for you (25 minutes) • Exploration Sheet (feel free to jot as I present) • Time to complete sheet • Discussion in small groups • Sharing and trouble shooting • Assume you’re interested. Not going to spend time on educational theory to convince you.

3. Why do it? School of Interdisciplinary Studies • Education More Meaningful • For Students (beyond textbook learning, integrates learning with doing and models what we’d like to see students do after they graduate) • More Student-Centered • For Faculty (you’ll learn something in the process) • Makes Teaching More Challenging • You may partially lose control and class may be less predictable • Students may find a need to talk about their experience • Making Impact on the Community, with the community as your partner • You’re like me • - so devoted to social change and civic engagement that it NEEDS to be part of aligning your life with your teaching.

4. Why not do it? School of Interdisciplinary Studies • Developing and maintain relationships with community organizations takes time! • Makes Teaching More Challenging (you saw this before!) • You may partially lose control and class may be less predictable • Students may find a need to talk about their experience • Challenges at your institution like… • Inadequate support (course release, staff support, …) • Not what will enable you to keep your job • Student time constraints • Making students aware of unique offerings

5. Course Planning School of Interdisciplinary Studies

6. Many Models to Choose from (start thinking and jotting!) School of Interdisciplinary Studies • Short-term or Episodic opportunities on or off campus (Example 1) • Creating social action field trips (Example 2) • Matching with existing on campus programs for off campus work (Example 3a) • Creating on off campus opportunities with limited hours for added credit (Example 3b) • Developing community-based research (Example 4a) • Community Research for social change outside organization (Example 4b) • Social Action in collaboration or independently (Example 5) • Paired Internships with Integrated Courses (Example 6)

7. School of Interdisciplinary Studies Example 1: volunteer or match with on campus program • Ask Students to volunteer in a course related community project • In my BIS 301 class, I’ve had students do a “boundary crossing“ experience, where they either do “Voices of Discovery“ on campus or volunteer at a community agency for at least 6 hours a semester which required them to cross a race, gender, social class, religious, age or other “boundary“ and then write about it. • ASU has an office that maintain a volunteer data base including long-term, short-term and episodic (1 time) opportunities. • Could have students attend a City Council Meeting or other public meeting (or expand that to becoming involved in a community issue under discussion). • In Tempe a rental housing task force has been formed. • Also, looking at Pay Day Loans

8. School of Interdisciplinary Studies Example 2: Social Action Field Trip • Colleague plans to give class an option of going to Mexican border with Borderlinks, a nonprofit organization based in Tucson (we’re 100 miles north of Tucson) • Likely tour maquiladoras and see housing conditions and compare with appearances on this side of border. • Meet with representatives of various organizations

9. School of Interdisciplinary Studies Example 3a: Service Learning Course Match • ASU’s Service Learning Office runs tutoring and other instruction aid programs in many schools in Phoenix serving at risk youngsters. • Instructors match their courses with the program • Service Learning could be added credit • Could replace assignments in the class—with students not doing service learning having something else they do.

10. Service Learning Program Background and Design School of Interdisciplinary Studies • Primary partners: school districts and non-profit agencies • Funding partners: education, business, and industry • Provides training, oversight, research, and community engagement opportunities for students and faculty • Regular courses linked to credit-bearing semester-long internships or course-embedded projects • Students apply classroom knowledge in the community • Students infuse classroom with their community learning • Students reflect on community experiences via computer-mediated, instructor-led discussions

11. MIC 205 ENG 471 AFH 333 Fall 2002 SPA 202 (Fall 2002) Dept. of Languages & Literatures ENG 312 ENG 480 AFH 353 Fall 2002 Dept. of Microbiology MTE 180 RDG 301 Department of Mathematics African American Studies ENG 217 LIN 572 DCI 498 Education RDG 507 ENG 102 Department of English The Service Learning Program at ASU Academically-Linked Service Learning Internships BIO 187 Dept. of Biology ENG 101 Amer English Culture Program BIO 100 Stretch 101 Dept. of Plant Biology Honors College HON 484 UNI 494 Capstone School of Architecture PLB 108 ARP 494 University College UNI 494 Community Web Dev SOC 341 Dept. of Sociology SOC 470 Dept. of Physics and Astronomy Department Of Psychology UNI 494 Leadership Center for Solid State Science BIS 401 College of Public Programs Office of Climatology Dept. of Geological Sciences Dept. of Geography Gerontology Program PSY 101 GRN 440, 498, 540 Any PHS JUS 341 PGS 365 GPH 373 Any PHY UNI 494 Science Is Fun GLG 101/103 GPH 111 SWG 591

12. MLK, Jr. Akimel Eisenhower South Mtn. H.S. Percy Julian Booker T. Washington Head Start Wilson School Rose Linda Lassen Laird Mesa School District Aguilar WilsonSchool District South Mountain Youth and Family Center Fees Middle School C.O. Greenfield Jorgensen Phoenix Citadel Corps Tempe School District #3 Carminati Nevitt Cesar Chavez The Salvation Army Southwest Div Sierra Vista M.O. Bush The Service Learning Program Tutoring Sites Conchos Mesa Corps M.O. Bush Tempe Union High School District Valley View Roosevelt School District Mountain Pointe High School Phoenix Elementary School District #1 Ed Pastor Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community J.F. Kennedy Kenilworth Sunland M.L.. King Salt River Elem.

13. EXAMPLES OF COMMUNITY – CLASSROOM LINKS School of Interdisciplinary Studies ENGLISHCOMPOSITION: • COMMUNITY: raising Stanford 9 scores in the Valley’s most in-need schools • CLASSROOM: using community work as basis for semester’s research and editing • English 101 • English 102 • English 217 • English 312

14. School of Interdisciplinary Studies • LITERATURE FOR ADOLESCENTS: • COMMUNITY: helping adolescent readers improve literacy skills and gain insights into themselves and the larger world • CLASSROOM: creating a real-world application for classroom learning • METHODS OF TEACHING WRITING: • COMMUNITY: helping young writers practice the Six Traits of Good Writing • CLASSROOM: infusing course work with real-world experience

15. School of Interdisciplinary Studies • MATH EDUCATION: • COMMUNITY : Helping academically at-risk third graders learn basic math skills • CLASSROOM: Motivating potential teachers to learn material in non-threatening environments • ARCHITECTURE: • COMMUNITY: Providing gifted but at-risk children with experiences that can help them expand the limits of their aspirations • CLASSROOM: Enhancing awareness of the public role of architects

16. School of Interdisciplinary Studies • SCIENCE: • COMMUNITY: Helping minority students realize they have the potential to be scientists • CLASSROOM: Creating student-centered environments that heighten students’ academic and social engagement in: • Geology • Microbiology • Physical Science • Physical Geography • Plant Biology

17. School of Interdisciplinary Studies • SOCIOLOGY: • COMMUNITY: Assisting at-risk youth develop education-based alternatives to anti-social behavior • CLASSROOM: Heightening understanding of classroom theories as they relate to community issues • Urban Issues • Modern Social Problems • Racial and Ethnic Relations

18. School of Interdisciplinary Studies Example 3b: Service hours with multiple placements (Welfare Reform Course) • Welfare Reform Course at Earlham College with 20 hour community service component (4 credits instead of 3). Students worked at agencies with local connection to course • Indiana Workforce Development • Women, Infants, Children (WIC) • Richmond (IN) Housing Authority • Family and Children Services • Genesis Battered Women’s Shelter

19. School of Interdisciplinary Studies Readings plus Experience • Students read texts giving both history, perspectives on the issue, models of how labor markets worked • A former welfare mom visited the class to discuss her experience • The students discussed every week new experiences • Ultimately students presented their experience for campus community and wrote reports sent to the agencies.

20. School of Interdisciplinary Studies Example 4a: Community Based Research (Research Methods Course) • With assistance of Nonprofit Management Institute we solicited requests for nonprofit research projects. • We match one section (30 students) with an organization and seek to answer their research questions with quantitative and qualitative methods--which the students are learning about in the course. • Meeting a community need (under funded organization), while providing a lasting educational experience. • Works best in terms of time involvement if you have a continual relationship with a few organizations.

21. School of Interdisciplinary Studies Past Projects • -Arizona Coalition to End Domestic Violence • Analyzed Dept. of Public Safety data on arrests and dispositions of crimes that sometimes were connected to domestic violence. With further work after the course, released formal report at press conference with organization. • CARE Partnership • Door to door community survey with bilingual junior high translators. • Helped inventory community dental clinics for capacity and procedures as part of an oral health needs assessment. • Women in New Recovery • Coordinated to support Needs assessment federal grant with survey distribution and focus group notes. • Not My Kid • Helped with program evaluation by doing pre and post surveys after their classroom presentations (drug and eating disorders)

22. School of Interdisciplinary Studies Example 4b:Community Research (Research in the Class outside organizations) • We conducted a content analysis of media coverage (print and TV) of politics, especially state government in February 2004. • Students coded results, developed a paper • Issued a press release, held a press conference • One student got to appear on our public affairs program on the PBS affiliate.

23. School of Interdisciplinary Studies Example 5: Social Action in collaboration or independently • UCLA professor who teamed his social movements course with a union organizing drive for Los Angeles downtown hotels. • This coming semester, for my “Power, Politics, and Social Change” course, we plan to introduce legislation or work closely with someone new to the legislative process, and then take a significant role in trying to move that legislation.

24. School of Interdisciplinary Studies Example 6: Paired Internships with Integrated Courses (“Power, Politics and Social Change”) • Arizona Public Policy Senior Seminar ( 3 units) • Legislative Advocacy Applied Study Internship (3 units) • Builds off existing internship requirement, but ties to senior seminar in our curriculum. Run every Spring coinciding with State Legislative Session • Challenge: How do you find 25 community placements?

25. School of Interdisciplinary Studies

26. School of Interdisciplinary Studies

27. School of Interdisciplinary Studies

28. School of Interdisciplinary Studies CHALLENGES! • More than just picking the right books! • Need to recruit organizations and do advance planning • Need to work on joint expectations (especially challenging in our research methods course) • Be cognizant of your student limitations. ASU students have far more limitations (paid work) than did Earlham College liberal arts students. • May need patience. It took two years to develop and cultivate sufficient internship connections for the paired course building off of 4 prior years of extensive community and political involvement.

29. Course Planning School of Interdisciplinary Studies

30. Contact Information School of Interdisciplinary Studies • Dave Wells, Ph.D. • Interdisciplinary Studies Program • david.wells@asu.edu • 480-727-7038 • Web sites: • http://www.public.asu.edu/~wellsda/teaching • http://www.MakeDemocracyWork.org (my archived public policy newspaper op-eds)